I have a problem. I guess you could call it an obsession, or even an addiction; whatever way you choose to look at it, there’s a genre of games that will always have me mindlessly zoning out and unknowingly saying goodbye to hours of my day – Jigsaw puzzles. 

I have a soft spot for jigsaw puzzles in real life; there’s just something really soothing about curling up with a cozy blanket, a crackling fire, and a table filled with puzzle pieces on a cool fall evening. Creating a video game from that calming experience is an underappreciated art form, but there are some indie developers who are doing just that. 

UMAMI

As much as I’m a sucker for jigsaws, I’m also a sucker for anything that involves cute animals, and UMAMI takes the two concepts and mashes them together to form wooden block puzzles that depict various types of food that are guaranteed to make your stomach grumble. It’s probably a good idea to bring snacks, lest you start thinking you spent a past life as a beaver.

UMAMI is the debut game from indie team Mimmox Games, and the team has developed something that’s truly special. Not only is the artwork of both the food and the animals accompanying each dish absolutely stunning, but there are secrets to be found in the setting, as well. Hidden in every level is a collectible card, and that’s a recipe for success for completionists and collectors like myself. 

Although UMAMI doesn’t have a definite release date just yet, it is due to be released at some point in Q4 (Winter) 2025. There’s a demo available to try right now over on Steam, and I highly recommend it!

Puzzling Places

Puzzling Places was originally a VR-exclusive game that was available on Meta Quest, and it’s all about 3D puzzles of photo-realistic places around the world, created by 3D scanning each location. Now, the game is coming to the flat screen via Steam, and it is an absolute delight to build and explore these gorgeous settings. 

While building each of the different locations in Puzzling Places, you’ll not only work towards finalizing familiar historic buildings, but you’ll also bring them to life. There’s a story to be told through each puzzle, with moving characters and thematic noises that draw you in as you complete the jigsaw. You set the difficulty, with the number of pieces you get ranging between 25 and 1,000 pieces. 

Puzzling Places has been developed by Realities.io Inc, and won a few VR awards back in 2021. There’s no release date set for the full game through Steam, just yet, but there is a demo to try out that lets you build and explore a few different locations. 

Woodo

I’ve made it perfectly clear how much I adore Woodo, and how much I’ve looked forward to being able to play even the demo, but I will never pass up an opportunity to share some love for this gorgeous little wood block, story-driven jigsaw puzzle game. 

Focused on the tale of Foxy as they leave the big city behind and find an unexpected sense of peace and serenity in the countryside, despite getting off to a rough start with the local goose population. The story evolves as you slot puzzle pieces into their rightful places in small dioramas, and Foxy narrates her experience as you progress. It’s adorable, with a soundscape that drags you in, and a story that will resonate with many players. 

Developed by Tiny Monks Tales, Woodo doesn’t have a release date at the time of writing. However, the long-awaited demo was released on August 6, and is available to download and try right now. 

A Little to the Left

A Little to the Left is well known to indie gamers, and it’s the perfect proof of the satisfaction that can be gained by taking a mess and organizing it into something that has perfect order. However, there are certain levels that involve putting things back together, so A Little to the Left earns a place on this list of jigsaw puzzle games. 

I know, it’s a stretch, but I love this game and think you will too. Just go with it. 

Away from the more organization-based levels that ask you to order things by size or color, there are many levels of A Little to the Left that ask you to reconstruct items such as vases or plates, or slot pieces into the right location within a drawer or cupboard. These are, essentially, jigsaw puzzles with a fresh twist, and they’re always really satisfying to complete. 

A Little to the Left was developed by Max Inferno and released way back in 2022, but it’s still receiving updates three years later, with the Packed update having been released on June 26, 2025. There sadly isn’t a demo to try, but the full game is well worth the relatively small price tag. 

Piece by Piece

If you want something a little bit more involved than a basic jigsaw puzzle, but still want the joy of slotting those tabs and blanks together, then Piece by Piece might just be the perfect middle ground. It’s a platformer that challenges you to get through a door, but you’ll need to rearrange the puzzle pieces to complete each level, and it’s often more complicated than you may first think. 

The puzzles start out fairly simple, with just one piece needing to be moved or replaced to open up the route to the exit of each level. However, you’ll soon find yourself frowning at the screen and stretching your head as you try to figure out how you’re meant to arrange the pieces to create a straight shot to the exit. 

Piece by Piece has been developed by Neon Polygons, and there isn’t a release date set in stone just yet, but there is a demo available to try through Steam right now. 

Strange Jigsaws

Strange Jigsaws is what you get, and I mean this in the best way possible, if you let a psychopath design jigsaw puzzles. It’s like someone took the concept of jigsaw puzzles and threw the rulebook out the window, deciding to make it as confusing as possible, although that does increase the sense of satisfaction you feel when you figure out one of the solutions. 

In Strange Jigsaws, the puzzles initially seem to be impossible. One of them challenges you to place in three pieces that look like they don’t belong, but you can make them belong by recoloring pieces from other puzzles. Another gives you the pieces but makes them impossible to move, instead giving you a word puzzle to solve. It’s hard, but it’s rewarding, and Strange Jigsaws will definitely keep you thinking. 

Strange Jigsaws was created and developed by FLEB, who has a history of making puzzles that require some serious brain power to figure out. It was released through Steam on August 7, 2025, and is well worth playing if you’re looking for something to keep your brain active in your downtime. 

Glass Masquerade

Glass Masquerade is a dark and steampunk-esque jigsaw game that challenges you to fit together completely insane shapes to create a variety of stained glass jigsaws. If you want a challenging jigsaw to complete, then there’s one (or hundreds) waiting for you in this game, and the aesthetic is utterly gorgeous. 

I will admit that, at times, it’s hard to tell what you’re actually completing until you’ve successfully completed it. Thanks to the stained glass design and the off-the-wall shapes of the pieces you need to slot together, it’s hard to figure out the complete picture until it’s right in front of your face. That doesn’t take away from the joy of completing the puzzles, though, and completing each one will unlock more to be explored. 

The Glass Masquerade games are developed by Onyx Lute, and the first one came out in 2016. Two more have been released in the time since, each with a different theme (Illusions and Honeylines), and a fourth (Constellations) is set for release at some point during Fall 2025. There are also heaps of DLC content available, if you want even more puzzle goodness.

Jigsaw Bestiary

There are few things cooler than mythological creatures, and Jigsaw Bestiary not only allows you to piece together puzzles featuring lithograph-style images of them, but it also teaches you the backstory and history between each of them once you complete their respective jigsaws. The style and the history combine to create something educational and yet beautiful. 

All of the illustrations in Jigsaw Bestiary are provided by an artist known as Semdizer, and each of them breathes new life into age-old tales of myth and wonder. The creatures feel alive despite their 2D nature, and the puzzles are surprisingly challenging to complete, so you’ll definitely get your money’s worth if you purchase this one. 

Developed by Minicactus Games, Jigsaw Bestiary was released in February 2022, so the full game is available to purchase and play right now.